Utility Worth of Biomedical Freezers and Refrigerators
There are biological samples such as biological reagents, blood and blood derivatives, vaccines DNA, special medicines, and even flammable chemicals that cannot be adequately stored in ordinary refrigerators and freezers due to their extreme temperature condition requirements for these substances to be of use at their optimum condition; therefore, biomedical freezers and refrigerators have been designed to meet this specific need. Precise temperature conditions are required for prolonged storage of these biological samples and a reason why commercially available biomedical freezers and refrigerators are manufactured purposely to serve this temperature requirement, for instance, DNA and RNA samples must be stored at a temperature range within -70 to -80 degrees Centigrade, plasma products, blood and vaccines are effectively stored between -30 to -40 degrees Centigrade.
The market for biomedical freezers and refrigerators are so varied such that they are in demand in the following areas: blood banks, hospitals, pharmacies, diagnostic clinics, research laboratories, university laboratories, etc., and, among these, the blood banks have a greater market share of need for these storage facilities. Biomedical freezers and refrigerators have been typified according to use and to its market users, such that specific design and temperature conditions have been set to meet requirements, so these are the types of facilities available: blood bank refrigerators, laboratory refrigerators, plasma freezers, ultra low freezers, laboratory freezers, shock freezers, cryogenic refrigeration or storage system. The demand for biomedical freezers and refrigerators are due to these factors noted in the market, such as an increase of blood transfusions, creation of new vaccines, increase demand for cellular therapies, specialized medicines, and more research and development activities being established lately. In addition to the mentioned factors, in a general overview, the business market for biomedical freezers and refrigerators has taken on an upsurge growth due to the expansion of the healthcare industry which has included the medical-tourism sector, and which has prompted for the the technological and infrastructural establishment of specialized hospitals and clinics. On the other hand, the presence of cheaply-made biomedical freezers and refrigerators offered by market players in other countries at a cheaper price may have contributed a constraint in its steady growth. There is the risk of these cheaply-made biomedical freezers and refrigerators in the sense that their quality in maintaining extreme temperature conditions may not be strictly maintained and thus can tremendously affect the shelf-life of blood samples and other important biological samples. In order to regulate and satisfy the market for quality biomedical freezers and refrigerators, governments of each country, especially in the US, are now stepping up legislations and quality control to serve as standard requirements and basis for designing, manufacturing, testing and marketing of these types of storage facilities, putting in mind safety and performance, such that a quality certification, as part of the regulatory requirements, is required. In order to maintain and increase its market presence, the marketing team and producers of biomedical freezers and refrigerators must be able to meet these influencing factors: quality and technological aspect, competitive pricing, and effective distribution network.
